During my first meeting with my cooperating teacher in middle school I was able to get a good feel for the school. it turns out my high school and middle school teachers share a classroom. I also found out that my middle school teacher teaches earth science topics in his 7th grade classes and chemistry in his 8th grade classes. This confused me because i don't know how this will affect my unit plans. Mr. Barnes also talked to me about the kits they use. these kits contain labs and other activities that the teacher then uses to teach and generally he said you design your lesson around the labs.
I also talked to Mr. Barnes a little bit about his classroom policies and from what i gathered the rules are pretty standard as far as be respectful do your work and don't stop others from learning. Mr. Barnes generally introduces the rules at the beginning of the year so students can know what is expected of them. He did not have any form of handout that he could give me, but the general steps in the discipline process seem to be verbal warnings, then the parents are informed, and finally 2 hour after school detention. Problems that arise that are especially bad would probably result in suspension. One thing that i thought was very interesting was the fact that parents receive a weekly report on students grades. i had never heard of parents being this well informed. It was a good first visit aside from the confusion i encountered by my cooperating teachers regarding my visiting the school.
I also talked to Mr. Barnes a little bit about his classroom policies and from what i gathered the rules are pretty standard as far as be respectful do your work and don't stop others from learning. Mr. Barnes generally introduces the rules at the beginning of the year so students can know what is expected of them. He did not have any form of handout that he could give me, but the general steps in the discipline process seem to be verbal warnings, then the parents are informed, and finally 2 hour after school detention. Problems that arise that are especially bad would probably result in suspension. One thing that i thought was very interesting was the fact that parents receive a weekly report on students grades. i had never heard of parents being this well informed. It was a good first visit aside from the confusion i encountered by my cooperating teachers regarding my visiting the school.